Sucked into the Abyss - What Started it All

I stood on the banks of Wild Cat Lake on September 12^th, 2010, on a cold, dreary morning and was in awe. Hundreds of people in wetsuits and bright swim caps were preparing to actually enter the cold, dark abyss lake. I grew up in Hawaii, so I knew how to swim (or so I thought); but, I was a huge wimp when it came to cold water. The water had to be at least 75 degrees for me to step my toes into it, the sun had to be shining brightly, and preferably I’d be holding an umbrella drink.
I searched the crowd for my sister, the reason I had pulled my lazy body out of bed on an early Sunday morning. I must really love her because I am not a morning person. I was there to cheer her on in her very first Sprint Triathlon. She’d been training for it for months – even parked at my house once to bike a new 10-12 mile route.  My sister is a few years older, and a tough cookie. Being a master gardener, I knew she could shovel circles around me, but had never once seen her swim, bike, or run.  This should be interesting, I thought.

She owned that 'outfit'! 

 I looked out at the .5 mile swim course and bright orange buoys that were laid out in a triangle (A HUGE TRIANGLE). I could not believe she was going to swim around them. I was terrified for her. Did I mention it was COLD? But she was all smiles, posing proudly for pics in her wet suit and bright pink swim cap. I was surprised that she did not seem the least bit embarrassed to be seen in that ‘outfit’ (in fact, she seemed downright proud). 

Brave, brave women in Pink swim caps

The whistle blew and she and 200+ other women flopped off in a group like guppies in a bucket. I lost sight of her pretty quickly, so I concentrated on those that were coming out of the water. The young (and not so young) and strong men came charging out of the water in 12-15 minutes or so, sprinting up to the bike area.  Wow! Impressive! As time went on, it was more of a slow jog out of the water, and some were even a bit tipsy (did they stop for a drink, I wondered?).   An extremely respectable 23 minutes later, my sister emerged, with a big smile and two thumbs up. I breathed a sigh of relief that we were not going to have to deliver any bad news to her children. And look at all the swimmers behind her! She wasn't last!

Off she went on her bike for the 15.5 mile bike ride. As we waited for her return, I again had the opportunity to watch and cheer on the other racers. I was struck at the variety of ages and shapes of participants – most of these people did not look like what I thought a Triathlete should look like.  Some were clearly ‘in it to win it’ and were fast and looked fast in their fancy biking jerseys and weird shoes that clipped on to their bikes. Others looked like PTA Moms, pot-bellied empty nesters, and AARP members just having fun. Fun?!?  Nothing involving early morning and cold temperatures could translate to a fun time, for me. I tried to wrap my brain around that for a while. 
 

Christina and supporters

Soon Christina returned on her bike and was off on the 3.4 mile run, and the faster runners were starting to cross the finish line.  Medals were placed around necks and families hugged the same necks. Pride shown on the faces of both huggers and huggees. Pretty cool, I thought, wondering what it would be like to accomplish such a race.  We hollered big for Christina as she ran down the finish line chute and we gave her many kudos and high fives. After more pics, she garnered her finisher’s swag and was off to congratulate some of her fellow Tri Babe training partners.  She was a rock star in my eyes!  I was never in my life so proud of her (except for maybe that time she had one of her babies at home without a doctor and was folding laundry an hour later!!).

As I headed back to my car, and passed more of the ‘turtles’ ending their runs, I had the thought that just maybe, if they could do it, I could do a Sprint Triathlon, too.  I was 49 years old.  I was bored.  I felt old and washed up. My four kids had grown and were mostly gone. Maybe it would be a fun goal to work toward for my 50th year on this planet. The seed was planted that day.

I knew there would be challenges.  I had done a bit of running for exercise, but only short distances.  BUT THAT DAMN SWIM!  It had probably been 15 years since I had gotten on a bike. BUT THAT DAMN SWIM!  I’d need to save for and buy a bike. BUT THAT DAMN SWIM!  I’d have to save up to become a part of the Tri Babe training group. BUT THAT DAMN SWIM! All obstacles paled in comparison to the fear of THAT DAMN SWIM.

That’s when I realized my very first Triathlon goal would have to be to conquer the abyss swim. Now, a few  Triathlons later, it’s still THAT DAMN SWIM!  But it sure IS fun! J

Thank you, Christina, for inspiring me to begin!